St Patrick’s day…

Hi folks, i hope you are doing ok. This week our lent walk takes place between The Cumberland and The Crescent Club. We will meet at 7.00pm and walk along the coast to the Crescent club for about 8.00pm. This as always, is weather permitting! Today’s reflection comes from this weeks d-church as we focus on St Patrick’s day. So to kick us off… When you think about St Patrick’s day what comes to mind?

St Patrick’s prayer has been one of my favorites for a while, here is the whole prayer for you to think about… 

As you read this prayer, what are the words and phrases that speak to you and why? The following words from the prayer really speak to me ‘Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me’ Or put another way ‘Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.’  So i wonder where have you witnessed God in unexpected places this last week?

Peace, Rob

Ash Wednesday

As I write this weeks reflection I am reminded that the last two weeks conversations have led us to all kinds of places as we talked through Stephen Fry’s comments and as we thought about ethics around helping parents to conceive healthy babies and the issues around assisted dying.

As we have talked on line and face to face we have raised issues that some have found difficult to talk about. It has raised questions and it has prompted debate. So as we come now to our journey towards the cross and the resurrection we begin our journey at Ash Wednesday.

As we ponder here we are asked to think about death, the death of Jesus and our own mortality. Around the world folks will will have attended churches for quiet reflection and they would have left with a death mark on there foreheads – ashes made in the shape of a cross. This death though is also not just about the physical death, it also speaks in to the lives of the followers of Jesus as they try to follow him by dying to self.

With this comes struggle and questioning as we try to become more like Christ.

So today ponder on these words from scripture…

Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42, RSV).

So as we journey through lent i wonder what you hope for?

We will be pondering on this at the Sportsman on Sunday night, if you would like to join us then we will be there form 8.00pm. I also remind you that we have the first of our lent walks on Sunday afternoon, check out the link for details. 

May God bless us. Cheers Rob